Is Joe Biden the John Belushi of the Democratic Party?
| Washington
Election Day is looming and your party lags in the polls. You鈥檙e likely to lose the Senate and lots of seats in the House as well. Party workers are tired and discouraged and thinking of curling up with Netflix and a half gallon of ice cream on Tuesday, instead of voting. Who鈥檙e you gonna call to rally the troops?
Two words: Joe Biden.
That鈥檚 right, the Vice President of the United States. With Democrats on the verge of a possibly deflating vote, Mr. Biden played the role of defiant cheerleader this weekend. He and said he鈥檚 not buying all those forecasts that show the GOP making big gains.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 agree with the odds makers,鈥� said Biden. 鈥淚 predict we鈥檙e going to, we鈥檙e going to keep the Senate.鈥�
OK, so Joe was not as worked up as John Belushi in his famous 鈥�Animal House鈥� speech. (鈥淣othing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? [Expletive] no!鈥�) But Biden is an experienced politician and he knows you鈥檝e got to run all the way to the finish line. There鈥檚 lots still at stake for the Democrats, from down-ballot state and local races heavily affected by turnout, to such tight contests as Georgia Senate, which might still break the Democratic candidate鈥檚 way.
Somebody has to express optimism until the end. President Obama鈥檚 not a good messenger this cycle, given his low approval ratings. That leaves Biden 鈥� and Biden, unlike his boss, has spent lots of time on the road campaigning this midterm season.
His folksy motormouth style lends itself to campaigning. After all, this is a guy who was himself elected to the Senate six times. In 2014 he鈥檚 campaigned for 66 different Democratic candidates or party entities, according to figures obtained by Yahoo News. He鈥檚 attended 70 events in 22 states and the District of Columbia.
鈥淭he question for Biden is whether his all-out campaigning will secure Democratic victories, which in turn could aid a still-hypothetical run for the top job at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,鈥� .
Does Biden really think he can pull the Democrats back into Senate power via sheer will and lots of words? Almost certainly not. The VP gets a news summary every morning and the numbers are daunting at the moment 鈥� the puts the chances of a GOP takeover at 76 percent.
In other parts of this weekend鈥檚 CNN interview, Biden let slip some sentiments that made it seem as if he鈥檚 resigned to the coming new reality. Asked if the White House is going to have to change the way it does business, Biden said, 鈥淟ook, we鈥檙e ready to compromise.鈥�
As to the running-for-president-himself part of this equation, Biden said he鈥檚 still making up his mind. But the 2016 campaign will shift into a higher gear on Wednesday, the day after the 2014 campaign ends. The VP is reaching the point where a 鈥渕aybe鈥� increasingly looks like a 鈥測es.鈥� By not ruling a race out, Biden keeps his friends and fundraisers frozen in place, unable to commit to another (Hillary) candidate. It won鈥檛 be long until many of them pressure him to fish or cut the demurrals.
